Montenegro’s government is under mounting pressure from the European Union as well as civil organizations and opposition parties to withdraw or revise a draft law on the country’s national intelligence agency. The draft Law on the National Security Agency (ANB), fast-tracked by the government earlier this month, was endorsed on Wednesday by the parliamentary Committee on Security and Defence.
The focus of the debate is the law’s provision granting the ANB broad access to personal and institutional data, including banking information, telecommunications metadata, and civil society registries, without needing prior court approval. The most contentious aspect of the draft law permits the ANB to gather telecommunications metadata—such as location and traffic data—without judicial oversight, despite a 2014 Constitutional Court decision deeming this unconstitutional.
A number of Montenegrin NGOs have raised concerns that the proposed law threatens citizens’ constitutional rights and breaches Montenegro’s international legal commitments, and more than 20 NGOs have demanded it be withdrawn.
The proposed law comes as Montenegro works toward joining the European Union. The European Commission has made it clear that overhauling the security and intelligence sector is key to moving forward in the membership process and demanded clarity from Podgorica on the legal justification for such sweeping powers.
“We are closely following developments related to this draft law,” European Commission spokesperson Guillaume Mercier told reporters, emphasizing that any legislative changes in such a sensitive sector must be transparent, legally justified, and subject to comprehensive legal review.
Justice Minister Bojan Božovic said the government was not at all ignoring the EU’s concerns: “We are listening closely to reactions from Brussels and won’t do anything that could slow our [EU accession] progress.”
